1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drink preparation machine, particularly espresso machine, comprising a height adjustable drink outflow unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drink preparation machines of this kind, particularly espresso machines, include a drink outflow unit in which at least one downwardly open outflow pipe is provided below which a receptacle, for instance a cup or a glass, can be disposed which receives the drink, or coffee, respectively, prepared by the drink preparation machine, particularly espresso machine. The drink outflow unit is height adjustable to permit the use of cups or glasses of different height to the upper open side of which the outflow pipe can be moved. The drink outflow unit which typically comprise's a drink outflow distributor is disposed on a front side of a machine housing front wall while the proper drink preparation device, particularly a brewing chamber of an espresso machine, is disposed within the machine housing. A drink supply pipe via which the drink is fed from inside of the machine housing from the drink preparation unit, or the brewing chamber, respectively, to the drink outflow unit passes through an opening of the machine housing front wall which extends in height adjustment direction of the drink outflow unit. If the means for the height adjustable support of the drink outflow unit are disposed within the machine housing as well, which is preferred, a connecting member extends from the drinks feeder pipe into the opening of the machine housing front wall, too. The means for the support of the drink outflow unit may consist of a carriage connected with it via the connecting member and movably guided on a vertical slide bar. This state of the art known from practice includes also that the slide bar together with the carriage and, if required, a drink feeder device connected with the proper drink preparation device, particularly the brewing chamber, on one hand, and with the drink outflow unit, or the connecting member, respectively, on the other hand, is arranged in a carrier chassis constituting a separate structural assembly mounted within the machine housing preferably on the machine housing front wall.
It is an disadvantage of such drink preparation machines, particularly espresso machines that the opening in the machine housing front wall extending in the adjustment direction of the drink outflow unit is not completely covered by the drink outflow unit, particularly if the latter is compact and if the height adjustment path is large. Through the open sections of the opening, dirt particles, particularly coffee remains, may penetrate into the interior of the drink preparation machine.
In order to avoid this, one might think of providing the drink outflow unit which is also referred to as outflow slide valve with a shield part outside in front of the machine housing front wall, which, however, might restrict the useful height adjustment path. In order to improve the support of such an outflow slide valve, it has been known to design it as two parts, viz. a shield part and an outflow distributor, wherein the outflow distributor can be extracted like a telescope from the shield part and is height-adjustably supported. This shall result in a more compact type of structure having a lager adjustment scope; it requires, however, a technically elaborate construction (DE 202 20 056 U1).
In another prior art coffee automat an outflow unit is supported on a carrier mounted to the outside of the machine housing front wall (DE 20 2005 011 476 U1). Through an opening of the machine housing front wall, a coffee supply pipe extends from the inside of the coffee automat into an outflow unit in which it is connected to a coffee outflow distributor which discharges into coffee outflow pipes. The support of the outflow unit is effected by means of a longitudinal ball bearing as a first bearing element which encompasses a vertical longitudinal ball bearing axis provided on the carrier as a second bearing element. However, while it is largely avoided when using this coffee automat that dirt particles penetrate through the opening of the machine housing front wall into the machine housing, the relative height adjustability of the outflow unit is smaller than the height dimension thereof.